Improvement in metallic standards and lasts for boots and shoes



ROSS Jr. Metallic Standard and Last for Boots andshoesv' No. 222,157. 'Paten ted Dec. 2, 187.9.

" Urrn SIMON ROSS, JR, OF NEWPORT, KENTUCKY, ASSIGNOR TO ROSS,DAVIS 8t (30., OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

I IMPROVEMENT lN METALLIC STANDARDS AND LASTS FOR BOOTS AND SHOES." j

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 222,157 dated December 2, 1879; application filed April 14, 1879.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, SIMON Ross, J r., of Newport, in the county of Campbell and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Metallic Standards and Lasts for Boots andShoes, of which the following is a specification. a

The object of my invention is to provide for a metallic last and its supporting-standard a fastening or connecting device, which permits their ready connection and separation, and at the same time will hold the last firmly upon the standard while a boot or shoe is being placed upon or removed from the former; and to this end it consists in the combination of a last having in its top port-ion a hook-shaped rearwardly and inwardly extending socket, and a standard having projecting upwardly from its top a book, of a shape and size to fitsnugly into said socket of the last, whereby a rearward and upward movement of the last is rendered necessary in order to separate it from the standard. As a downward and rearward pull is exerted upon the last in placing a boot or shoe thereupon, and a forward and upward pull in removing the boot or shoe therefrom, it is obvious that boots and shoes may be successively placed upon and removed from the last without separating it from the standard, by which it will be firmly held in a convenient position for both operations.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents my improvement in elevation, partly in section. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the shank, showing its connection with the last, which is in cross-section.

Orepresents the standard or shank on which the last is supported. A represents a tenon or tongue, and Ba flange, to rest on the carriage and sustain the pressure of the machine. These parts are adapted to fit into the carriage shown and. described in Letters Patent No. 211,427, granted me January 14, 1879. This standard may be constructed to be used with other machines, and can be of any other convenient shape.

E represents the face of the joint on the top of the standard, on which the face E of the last rests.

D represents the last, having its face corresponding in shape with the face of the standard, to form a close joint.

F represents a tenon or tongue projecting from the face of the shank. It is shown hookshaped, and fits into a correspondingly-shaped socket made in the face E of the last D, forming a lock-joint. The object of the lock is to prevent the lastfrom being removed from the standard in pulling off and putting on shoes, and yet allows it to be readily removed by lifting on the toe of the last, and, moving itupward and backward. For instance, boots cannot be readily taken off and put on the last when it is onthe standard, and it is usually necessary to first put the last into the boot, then place it on the standard, and after it is in shape remove the boot with the last, and then the last can readily be taken out of the boot. With shoes it is more convenient to take off and put on the shoe without disturbing the last in its position.

The large size may project over the shank, both at the heel and instep, without detriment to the shaping of the boot or shoe.

It is obvious that the socket could he made in the standard, and the tenon or lock be placed on the last without affecting the result or operation of myinvention.

The plain faces E E, forming the joint, are very advantageous.

.It will be observed that the joint of the last to the shank is on the line above heel and instep, so as to have the last or shaping portion removable, to change the size and shape, and yet so united that the metal is not weakened by the joint. While the parts are held firmly in place by the tenon, the strain is imparted vertically on the standard, so that the sectional parts, when united, are nearly, if not quite, as strong as when cast in one piece.

This is a verytimportant feature in the shaping of heavy work,

I am aware that a last has been made in two sections, detachably united by male and female dovetails cast or made on the junction surfaces of the two parts, one of said sections being carried by a standard; and I am also aware that a cast-iron standard has been formed with an enlargement at its upper end, having an inclined surface at the top, and at right angles to this surface is formed a hole for the reception of a pin projecting from a last, and such constructions are hereby disclaimed, as they are not my invention; and, further, such constructions are open to the obj ection which it is the object of my invention to overcome namely, to provide a means, which, while permitting the ready attachment and detachment of the last on the standard, will at the same time hold the last firmly on the standard while a hoot or shoe is being placed upon or removed from the last.

. 'What I claim as my invention is The combination of a last having in its top 

